Recently, LMS and Sanitation Services completed the installation of a unique constructed wetland treatment system at a landfill in the Bahamas. The wetland system consists of a three-stage process flow with an aerated nitrification zone for ammonia removal. To ensure long-term operation and protection against extreme weather events, key innovative design techniques were applied, including the use of approximately 400,000 waste tires to create the wetland berm structure. The use of waste tires as berm material for a wetland is an unprecedented way to reuse the tires that would have otherwise been shredded and disposed in the landfill or end up in the ocean during flood events. See the below photo of the waste tires being set up for the berm construction.
The berm design considerations proved successful by remaining intact as Hurricane Dorian caused massive destruction to the islands in September 2019. The hurricane caused some equipment and vegetation damage, so repairs and replanting are underway and start-up testing has resumed. Early results show that the system is operating as designed.
